Deane Johnson
Active Member
Ranger Digital, which HunterDouglas shades are you planning to install?
Controlling Hunter Douglas shades
- Thread starter ChocoboLee
- Start date
Ranger Digital
Active Member
Batterized motors. Thats all I know! LOL. Open to suggestions one whatever it takes to make it work without running wires. MUST be able to control them third party and tie them into automation.
I think it will work with an X10 ac wall outlet. I control a bunch of stuff in my house with x10 from my iphone with the x10 commander app. Lights, fireplace, etc. All you need is an x10 wall outlet and you can turn it on/off from your phone, from anywhere. This should work with the RF adapter plugged into the X10 replacement wall outlet, right? Essentially it would be doing the same as in this video below, but you can do it from your phone!ChocoboLee said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M62Q5JfkKxU
Deane Johnson
Active Member
Just so everyone is aware, Hunter Douglas has discontined the RF Adapter. I think this is a terrible mistake on their part.
They are coming out with some interesting new stuff. They have the Apple interface already out. You can run the slider up and down on your iPhone or iPad and the shade will follow. I believe they are coming out with an RS-232 interface also, but I heard it was delayed. I don't know anything about it yet or what it will be capable of. I'm hoping they get it right.
Hunter has a bad habit of putting something on the market and if it doesn't sell like crazy immediately, they drop it. As a result, they have not developed a reputation for being a compan;y you can depend on when it comes to automation. The other problem is their desire to "go it alone", and they don't think in terms of playing well with others, something that would be very helpful in the home automation field.
The one thing they have going is that the PowerRise shades have become a reasonably affordable and practical way to have motorized shades. It used to be that everything had to be hard wired, and while those are fantastic, they are not always practical to install, and are usually more expensive..
They are coming out with some interesting new stuff. They have the Apple interface already out. You can run the slider up and down on your iPhone or iPad and the shade will follow. I believe they are coming out with an RS-232 interface also, but I heard it was delayed. I don't know anything about it yet or what it will be capable of. I'm hoping they get it right.
Hunter has a bad habit of putting something on the market and if it doesn't sell like crazy immediately, they drop it. As a result, they have not developed a reputation for being a compan;y you can depend on when it comes to automation. The other problem is their desire to "go it alone", and they don't think in terms of playing well with others, something that would be very helpful in the home automation field.
The one thing they have going is that the PowerRise shades have become a reasonably affordable and practical way to have motorized shades. It used to be that everything had to be hard wired, and while those are fantastic, they are not always practical to install, and are usually more expensive..
Deane, I got this to work with x10 ac outlets, sr227, but I have to put a filter on the outlet first and then plug in the rf adapter. I did further testing, without the filter, and plugged in a lamp into the same ac outlet as the rf adapter and it will also work. It seems the x10 modules need to sense a bigger load or something and the filter acts as one. Does that make sense?Deane Johnson said:
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
Does a remote come with these units? You could might be able to hack into that.
Deane Johnson
Active Member
"Does that make sense?"
It's not unusual for various modules to require a minimum load to operate properly. I doubt the RF Adapter provides much load at all.
It's not unusual for various modules to require a minimum load to operate properly. I doubt the RF Adapter provides much load at all.
Deane Johnson
Active Member
I don't have experience with a no-load on X-10. I guess I always had some sort of load on any I had. Is yours an appllance module?
FWIW Both X10 outlet and Appliance Module leak a small sensing current through the load for detection of the load being turned ON locally (think of a table lamp being turned on at the socket switch, telling the module to apply power.) . This sensing current is constant regardless of the ON or OFF state of the module. The current is enough that the Hunter Douglas RF control never sees the "off". By using a triple tap outlet (Jason, the "filter" isn't needed, only a way to add a heavier load on the module) and plugging a 4 or 7 watt night light along with the RF control, the incandescent nightlight "absorbs" the sensing current which allows the RF device to work normally. Apearently the Smarthome ApplianceLinc also leaks enough current to prevent the HD RF control from working.
wkearney99
Senior Member
FWIW, I'm leaning toward using some of their bottom-up capable shades in a master bath. I'll be using RA2 QS shades everywhere else. But since Lutron doesn't make a bottom-up variation I'm leaning toward the HD units.
I'll have to swing integration with the RA2 stuff via 3rd party, but that shouldn't be too much trouble.
I'll have to swing integration with the RA2 stuff via 3rd party, but that shouldn't be too much trouble.
Another issue. Regarding 1.0 powerrise duette honeycombo. Per this instructions....
1) Shade has no power - Replace the batteries. Check the battery tube for any cracks and make sure the tube is firmly seated in the contacts.
2) Motor is burned out - Replace the motor
3) IR Eye board is burned out - Replace IR-Eye Board
4) Lift Limit Switch - Broken/Faulty, Needs adjusted or lift cord is not in front of metal switch arm. Limit Switch Troubleshooting
5) Reset Shade Limits - Lower Shade completely. If the motor is not responding then you may have to slip motor out of Lift-Cord-Shaft to dis-engage then lower shade fully then re-engage motor into Lift-Cord-Shaft. Once shade is fully lowered, point the remote controller at the IR-Eye in Headrail or Satelite eye and press the Down button (on the remote controller) for 5+ seconds then hit the up button. If the shade does not respond then see steps 1-4 above.
I think I need to do step #5. Do you have any idea on how to remote that little motor out of the lift cord shaft?
Shade was fine, but batteries died 6 months ago (shade is halfway down), and I didn't try replacing batteries until yesterday. After I put new batteries in, you can hear the motor try to go, and then it instantly stops, because I think it thinks it's in the full top position, but it's not. And I can't reset by holding down the down arrow on remote, because the shade isn't fully DOWN, which it said it's needs to be down to reset it.. Thanks!
1) Shade has no power - Replace the batteries. Check the battery tube for any cracks and make sure the tube is firmly seated in the contacts.
2) Motor is burned out - Replace the motor
3) IR Eye board is burned out - Replace IR-Eye Board
4) Lift Limit Switch - Broken/Faulty, Needs adjusted or lift cord is not in front of metal switch arm. Limit Switch Troubleshooting
5) Reset Shade Limits - Lower Shade completely. If the motor is not responding then you may have to slip motor out of Lift-Cord-Shaft to dis-engage then lower shade fully then re-engage motor into Lift-Cord-Shaft. Once shade is fully lowered, point the remote controller at the IR-Eye in Headrail or Satelite eye and press the Down button (on the remote controller) for 5+ seconds then hit the up button. If the shade does not respond then see steps 1-4 above.
I think I need to do step #5. Do you have any idea on how to remote that little motor out of the lift cord shaft?
Shade was fine, but batteries died 6 months ago (shade is halfway down), and I didn't try replacing batteries until yesterday. After I put new batteries in, you can hear the motor try to go, and then it instantly stops, because I think it thinks it's in the full top position, but it's not. And I can't reset by holding down the down arrow on remote, because the shade isn't fully DOWN, which it said it's needs to be down to reset it.. Thanks!
